Magnetic sensing devices, such as Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors, for example, are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, GMR sensors are often used for sensing the angular position of a rotating member, such as a motor shaft. In such applications, a permanent magnet, sometimes referred to as a “pill”, is typically mounted to or embedded in an end of the motor shaft and is centered on the axis of rotation. The GMR elements or resistors, which are typically connected to form one or more bridges, are also positioned so as to be centered on the axis of rotation, with the resulting output signals generated by the GMR resistors being indicative of the angular position of the rotating shaft.
However, for many reasons, such as space limitations, for example, it may not always be possible or desirable to position an angle sensor, such as a GMR sensor at the end of the rotating shaft. In such instances, toothwheels or polewheels are sometimes mounted to the rotating shaft and a magnetic sensor (e.g. a Hall effect sensor) are positioned proximate to the wheel and detect the passing of each tooth or pole to determine the angular position of the rotating shaft. However, while toothwheels and pole wheels are typically very accurate, they can be quite costly and provide only discrete (not continuous) location measurements as compared to magnetoresistive-based angle sensors, such as GMR type angle sensors, for example.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the embodiments of the present disclosure.